Phantom Of War
by Angel'zZero
Summary: Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, and Amber Hawkeye have been sent out on the frontlines of war. Will they make it back alive? Or will fatalities separate them forever?
1. War Is Not Pretty Sight

Thanks You for reading my very first fan fiction, it took about a month to find a Beta Reader but now I finally found One! A HUGE Thank you to Kenkaya, This story would be a total mess without you!

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Chapter 1: War Is Not Pretty Sight

July 3rd, just another hot day in Central. Roy picked up his morning paper off of his cluttered desktop to distract himself from the beautiful weather that he was missing out on in his cramped, military-standard office. He didn't have time to read it earlier because Riza was nagging him about finishing work papers that were due last week.

"Did you read the newspaper?" he asked Riza with his apathetic voice.

"No sir, I haven't," Riza walked over to Roy to inspect the newspaper for herself.

"The war in the south seems to be getting pretty rough. They say here that two civilian cities were reduced to rubble by alchemists." Pictures of a destroyed city covered the front page.

"Why would they announce that publicly?" Riza said with a concerned tone.

"Probably to stir up attention," Riza blinked in confusion at Roy's answer. "The State is claiming that the cities were hiding and supplying the Southern Army."

"That's their excuse for killing innocent civilians!" said Riza in a sharp tone. Roy looked at her with a stern face.

"Be careful what you say around here, that could get you fired," Roy said strictly. The colonel looked at Riza firmly, then suddenly burst out in laughter. "I'm just joking! Say whatever you want to me but watch your words around others."

"This isn't a laughing matter, sir."

"Eh, sorry," Roy said, a little embarrassed. There was a long awkward pause between them. Roy flipped the page trying to forget about the war. But, Riza was still curious.

"Why would those cities go to such a risk?" Riza said in a sorrowful voice.

"They were probably bribed," Roy snarled the words as he said them, thinking to himself what fools they were to help an enemy during a time of war.

"Do you think that we're going to be transferred over to the south?" Asked Riza worriedly.

"Maybe, maybe not," Roy said as he folded the newspaper and threw it on his desk, knocking over a couple overdue papers. He didn't bother to pick them up, he simply sat back in his seat and looked at the blank white ceiling of his office, like he was looking for an answer to the question. "Only if they need reinforcements. But I know for a fact, that if we were to be transferred over, we will not repeat what happened in Ishbal!"

"Yes, sir," Riza nodded in agreement.


	2. The Hawk and Its Offspring

Chapter 2: The Hawk and Its Offspring

"Just aim and shoot," said the chief scientist that was dressed in a white laboratory coat. He watched her over the edge of his clipboard, filled with data charts and evaluation sheets. The scientist scribbled the date, 12 Oct 1906, in the top left-hand corner. He and five other men, dressed in military suits, stood behind a glass wall: peering at a ten year-old girl standing in the middle of a huge room, painted all in white. The little girl held a gun, barrel fixed steadily on a man that was trembling and crying.

"What kind of show are you performing? Giving a little girl a gun, we came to see a 'revolutionary change' for our military, not to watch a child play soldier!" One of the military men scoffed

"In due time, in due time" placated the chief scientist

"I can't," whispered the girl. The gun began to tremble as her hands shook, her face was pale and she started to tear up.

"What was that?" hissed the chief scientist.

"I can't shoot this man!" screamed the girl as she fell to her knees and started to cry.

"Have you forgotten Amber, why you're here? You exist to kill. You have no other purpose, no other meaning, just to obey my orders! Now you will shoot this man and fulfill your purpose in life. You understand me, Amber!?" the man yelled from behind the glass wall.

The little girl, named Amber, slowly got up from where she knelt, picked up the gun, and pointed it at the man. Her face wasn't pale anymore. She wasn't crying either. In fact, Amber now had a grin on her face and started to chuckle. The tattoo on the right side of her neck, a group of curved lines, started to slither up toward her eye like a snake.

"Haha! It finally started!" laughed the man.

"Sir, we should move to a different location. If Amber gets out of control she could kill us all!" said a female lab technician.

"Nonsense, we need to see the full extent of the curse mark's power!"

"What do you mean by "power?" said one of the military men. The tattoo on Amber neck reached her eye and formed a red ouroboros mark over her pupil. The men in military suits started to feel uneasy about what they were seeing.

"The power of the curse mark is phenomenal! It turns its user into half of a homunculus! Its power overtakes the user and the subject loses all humanity! Filling them with the lust to kill," explained chief scientist. Amber had no control over herself at this point. The only thing on her mind was to kill the man in front of her. Amber laughed insanely.

"Hahahaha, so you're my target...not very feisty I'll say," chuckled Amber.

"I don't want to die, I don't want to die!" screamed The prisoner. He then suddenly got up from where he was sitting and ran towards Amber, fists flying through the air. The man was fast as he swung his fist at Amber, but she was faster. She dodged the man and kneed him in the stomach at lightning speed!

"She's fast!" said one of the military men, surprised that a little girl could have the strength to take down a full grown man with only one kick.

"The curse mark gives Amber much more power than a regular human," the scientist continued to explain while the military men and scientists watched. Amber jumped backwards and aimed the gun towards the man.

"Bye, Bye," chuckled Amber as she pulled the trigger with a smile. The bullet hit him straight in the heart. As the man fell to the ground, Amber laughed with sick pleasure over her kill.

"A human homunculus? You were actually able to infuse a philosopher's stone into this little girl's body?" said the one of the military men.

"It took over fifty-seven tries, but we were finally able to keep this one alive. The power of a half homunculus is phenomenal! We can maintain her human side and control her, as long as we keep her calm. The mark reacts to her feelings," said the chief scientist, proudly "So what do you think boys? Of my creation? If you help us fund our project and keep this project under wraps, we promise that you will have access to her to do military secret assignments or whatever you need."

"You made one hell of a killer, Dr. Robinson. I'll agree to your terms. We'll fund your program and keep this a secret from the outside world," said one of the military men.

"I will have her ready for your use in six years. Don't you worry,I will make her ten times stronger than she is now."

They shook hands in agreement. Amber was on the floor,kneeling next to the man she had shot. She gripped her head with bloody hands and started to cry.

"Amber?"

"I didn't do this... I didn't do this!" She whispered repeatedly to herself. The curse mark had receded down her neck, a simple red tattoo until the next time they called for her.

"Hey Amber, are you going to shoot already?"

"Uh!?"

BANG!

Sixteen-year old Amber lowered her gun and brushed back blonde bangs from her brown glistening eyes to inspect the target. She was practicing with the new gun Riza gave her, in the target room of Central Headquarters.

"Damn," she had missed by 2 inches.

"What kept you from shooting? Took you a good full minute to shoot," said one of the couches.

"Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about the past a little," Amber sighed.

"Not good enough," she mumbled she lifted the heavy hand gun and aimed once again at the target.

"Haha, You're just like your mother Riza, never satisfied until you hit the target!"

"Yeah," but she has more experience than me," said Amber as she perked up from her earlier exhaustion. "Speaking of my mother, where the heck is she? She said she would help me with target practice today and she's an hour late!" Her tone grew frustrated. "I mean, what's the point of telling someone that they're going to help but never show up? Jeez, She's so..."

"I'm so, what?" said Riza. Amber turned around in surprise to face her mother and Roy.

"Eh? When did... I mean, you're so... wonderful... for finally showing up," said Amber sarcastically.

"I'm sorry Amber, I was busy helping the colonel with his VERY overdue papers," Riza glared at Roy.

"Eh, Sorry Amber," Roy chuckled.

"Try to keep up with your work, sir" she was annoyed that she didn't get to spend time with Amber today and help with her target practice. "Anyways Amber, we need to get going," sighed Riza, relieved that the long hot day was over.

"Eh... but... you just got here!" Amber shouted.

"I promise that I'll help you tomorrow," said Riza.

"Doubtful," mumbled Amber as they walked out the door to the car.

As Riza drove Roy home, Amber laid in the back leather seat of the car, about to fall asleep.

"Don't fall asleep, Amber. You still have papers to complete when we get home."

"Eh! Please... no more paper work."

"I wonder why they give you so much work. I get less and I'm a higher rank," said Roy.

"Maybe they should promote me, or at least give me a raise," said Amber.

"You ask for too much," Riza chuckled a little.

Riza and Amber finally made it back home to their one bedroom apartment in Central. It's a small apartment, barely able to fit two people and a dog. As they walked into the apartment, Riza carried a pile of papers over to the only table and slammed them down.

"You should finish these papers, they're due tomorrow," said Riza.

"Can I just do them after a short nap?" Amber asked as she yawned.

"No, you should finish them now before you forget," said Riza, sternly.

Black Hayate barked, greeting Riza and Amber.

"What's that boy? Uh, you want to go for a walk... okay," trying to avoid the oversized pile of papers, Amber ran out the door with Hayate.

"AMBER! Ugh, What am I going to do with her?" Riza said with a small shake of her head.

It was a nice summer night. The breeze was brisk and the air was cooling down from the long hot day. The streetlights were just turning on and crickets were chirping away.

"Aaaa, peace and quiet," Amber sighed as she walked down the quiet streets of Central with Hayate. As she turned a corner, she found a newspaper on the ground and picked it up.

"Looks like the war is getting bigger. I hope we don't get..."

"Woof!" Black Hayate interrupted eagerly: he wanted to go back home.

"Um, yeah we should go back. I'm probably going to get lectured when we get back, though."

"Woof!"


	3. A Horse, Two Hawks and a Homunculus

Chapter 3: A Horse, Two Hawks and a Homunculus

"Work, work, work, work, work, work" said Amber, irritated. She spent all night working on the papers and didn't get any sleep.

"What are you complaining about? I told you to do those papers earlier, what did you expect from the military?" sighed Riza as she looked at the pile of papers Amber was holding 'It is unusually that she as so many papers to do' thought Riza suspiciously.

"Ya, I know, but I didn't exactly sign up to do paper work ALL day!" said Amber.

"Then why did you sign up?"

Riza and Amber stopped in the middle of the hallway. Amber was shocked by what Riza had said, even Riza was a little shocked. She never meant to say it out loud.

"You of all people should know why I joined. I joined because of the laboratory's stupid ambitions" whispered Amber as she looked away from Riza.

"That's not true and you know it. You're free from them now," said Riza, trying to convince Amber.

"How do you know?" said Amber as she looked back at Riza with a frustrated expression. She knew it wasn't true. She had escaped from the laboratory two years ago, but despite that, she still felt like she was being held captive by the military. She knew they had knowledge about the curse mark and wanted her to themselves. Amber started to rub her neck where the curse mark was. Thoughts of the laboratory filled her head, making her feel uneasy.

"I'm sorry, just forget what I said," said Riza in calming voice as she walked closer to Amber and smiled. "None of that matters," Riza knew that Amber was lost in scary memories. She wanted to comfort her, but really didn't know how. She knew what they did in that laboratory, remembered the guilt she felt when she watched them take Amber away, just three days after birth. The past wasn't an easy subject for either of them.

"Uh? Oh, I'm sorry too, haha, we should be going now," Amber said awkwardly and brushed past her mother. Riza walked behind her daughter and, after building up courage, placed a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder. She may not have been there for her child in the past, but she was here now. Amber smiled in understanding. Riza made sure to drop her hand before they entered the office. She didn't want to ruin the moment by inviting Roy's teasing

As they entered Roy's office, Amber put the papers on her desk and walked over to the colonel. He was reading the morning newspaper, checking for updates on the war.

"Hey Mustang! I want a raise!" said Amber eagerly.

"Take that up with the Fuhrer," said Roy, not even looking up at Amber.

"But you're my boss!" Amber exclaimed.

"Oh, I see how it is now... you only want to acknowledge me as you boss when it's convenient for you, is that it?" said Roy as he folded the paper down to smirk at Amber.

Eh?! No, that's not true! Maybe you're just a lazy excuse for a boss... have you ever thought of that?"

"Amber," Riza warned as she glared towards her.

"Take a look at this," Roy cut through the tension, handing the newspaper to Riza.

"Uh! another city!" said Riza, angry and worried at the same time.

"Hmm, let me see," Amber inquired curiously. Riza gave her the paper.

"This war is getting bigger," said Riza.

"Not only that, the war is getting closer. It's only a matter of time before they trans..." the door to the office swung open before Roy had a chance to finish. Ten state alchemists lined up in the room, surrounding them, and saluted as Fuhrer King Bradley entered. Roy stood up from his chair and saluted as well. So did Riza and Amber.

"To what do we owe the pleasure, Fuhrer Bradley" Said Roy.

"At ease, I see you read the newspaper, Colonel Mustang," said Bradley

"Yes, sir. Every morning," said Roy, a little confused.

"Then you're aware of our... little situation."

Roy was surprised by the Fuhrer's word choice 'How could he call it little,' He thought. 'They blew up three civilian cities!'

The Fuhrer continued on, "that's why I'm sending you three over to Fort Goldstein, our number one fort in the country. You're going to aid them in one of the southern cities that threatens to destroy us."

Roy, Riza, and Amber's eyes widened in shock. They were being transferred to the frontlines of war. Even though they knew it was coming, nothing could prepare them for their worst nightmare come true.


End file.
